Highlights 1982
The Jam's final year is also their best-ever on the singles chart... Culture Club make a sensational debut Top Of The Pops appearance... ABC score three Top 10 hits... Slick videos for their three singles move Duran Duran to superstar status... Captain Sensible has one of the unlikeliest No. 1s with his synth-pop cover of Happy Talk... Eurovision winner A Little Peace is the 500th No. 1...
Biggest Chart Single
COME ON EILEEN
Dexys Midnight Runners
Kevin Roland teamed up with a group of nomadic-looking fiddlers called The Emerald Express for this million-selling single. See Biggest Chart Singles
Biggest Chart Act
MADNESS
In the year of their only No. 1 hit, Madness reclaimed their crown as the most successful chart act ahead of The Jam in second place. See Biggest Chart Artists
NME Song of the Year
THE MESSAGE
Grandmaster Flash
The first hip-hop song to make the UK chart caught the ears of the rock and indie hacks down at the NME this year. See WOW's Top Singles for 1982
Brit for Best Single
COME ON EILEEN
Dexys Midnight Runners
The Dexys beat US acts Irene Cara (Fame) and Survivor (Eye Of The Tiger) to bag the award for Best Single at the second annual Brit awards. See Biggest Chart Singles
WOW's Top Single of 1982
STRAIGHT TO HELL
The Clash
Far less played than the other A-side Should I Stay Or Should I Go, this song about minority injustice and neglect is still relevant today. See WOW's Top Singles for 1982
Most Played Song on the Radio†
GOLDEN BROWN
The Stranglers
The BBC failed to realise this dreamy, harpsichord-driven pop song was about heroin and became the most played song of the year. See WOW's Top Singles for 1982
† The disc received the Ivor Novello award for most performed song of 1982